Stay Tuned: Real medical drama, stat!

Wednesday

Nov 23, 2011 at 12:01 AMNov 23, 2011 at 11:13 PM

After a recent overseas trip, the 18-hour time difference meant that while most of you were probably sleeping I was awake watching infomercials on how to achieve a supermodel's complexion and tone my abs with a series of bands and pulleys. I knew I was in trouble when I started to believe that I too could have Alyssa Milano hair if only I called and ordered the haircare system she was touting.

Melissa Crawley

After a recent overseas trip, the 18-hour time difference meant that while most of you were probably sleeping I was awake watching infomercials on how to achieve a supermodel's complexion and tone my abs with a series of bands and pulleys. I knew I was in trouble when I started to believe that I too could have Alyssa Milano hair if only I called and ordered the haircare system she was touting.

So in an effort to stop being jet lag crazy and save myself money, I turned to the network websites where I hoped that watching a prime time repeat or two or six would put me to sleep. I settled into ABC's “Boston Med,” a reality show that features the doctors and patients of three Boston-area hospitals and the medical conditions that impact their lives. In my sleep-deprived state I randomly chose an episode that I soon realized was about a face transplant. (Word of advice: Do not watch real medical procedures that involve removing faces as a sleep aide.) While the episode didn't help my insomnia, it did remind me that reality television has the potential to inspire.

I'm pretty sure most of you would agree that reality TV is rarely an inspiring experience. Sure, it can teach us things like avoiding the Jersey Shore and women who call themselves “real housewives.” It's certainly entertaining. Who doesn't like to watch a house or island full of competitive people play games where they scribble answers on index cards or figure out how to untie endless knots? We might even pick up new skills from our reality TV viewing — learning to fillet a whole salmon, managing a marketing campaign or making a shelter out of branches and leaves when stranded in a forest. But when was the last time a reality show made you think: I am proud to be part of this viewing experience?

What I took away from my late-night viewing of doctors, nurses, patients and families is that reality television can defy belief and amaze us in ways that don't involve shamelessness and stupidity. The journey of the face transplant patient, the donor's family and the doctors and nurses involved in the life-altering procedure was filled with profound sadness, courage, skill and hope. The real doctors were more captivating than most actors who earnestly yell out medical phrases in a tense scene on “Grey's Anatomy.” The families were more admirable and dignified than most reality TV participants who cry over a heartbreak or passionately argue why they shouldn't be fired. The face transplant episode of “Boston Med” not only reminds us of the outstanding things of which we are capable but the level of storytelling that reality television is able to reach when it chooses. During the transplant, a nurse was watching from an outer room. She turns to her colleague and says: “I'm honored to be a part of this.” I thought: I'm honored to watch it.

Melissa Crawley credits her love of all things small screen to her parents, who never used the line, "Or no TV!" as a punishment. Her book, “Mr. Sorkin Goes to Washington: Shaping the President on Television's 'The West Wing,’” was published in 2006. She has a PhD in media studies and is a member of the Television Critics Association. To comment on Stay Tuned, email her at staytuned2011@hotmail.com or follow her on Twitter at @MelissaCrawley.

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